Why a Wolf Cries, Julie Steimle [ebook reader macos TXT] 📗

to cry. “I’m scared he might die.”

Will nodded. “Don’t worry. I hear the wolf is ok. He’s getting good medical treatment. I heard he got excellent first aid treatment, in fact.”

“That was Aunt Audry,” Maris pointed to her.

“I helped.” Skyler declared.

 Will peeked to Audry as he said to Maris, “Can I tell you a story about that very same wolf?”

Audry drew in a breath. Her eyes asked the question of the century: ‘How do you know that wolf?’

Everyone in the room watched him, listening intently.

“You see, I know the wolf you are talking about,” Will explained rather sheepishly. “I met him once too. But he didn’t save us at the time. We saved him.”

“No way,” Skyler gasped.

But Will nodded to him. “That wolf gets into a lot of scrapes.”

Audry stared, wondering how Will would know that wolf.

“To tell this story right, I need to explain some things,” Will said, peeking to Audry. “I’m sure your aunt already knows about my sister, Eve—”

Audry drew back, not going very far, as Maris still had hold of her hair in unfinished braids.

Meeting her gaze for fully now, Will continued, “I grew up in Northern California. And one summer, just after I graduated high school, my family went camping in a wildlife reserve owned by the Deacons. I didn’t know them before this event.”

Everyone now drew in a breath.

“The wildlife reserve had great hiking trails, cliff side views, trees upon trees, and lots of blue sky. Oh, and tons of wildlife. My family rented a cabin in the lower parts of the campground—which included also a cabin the Deacons owned. But we also hiked up the mountain that first day and camped in tents—me, my brother and my two sisters.” Will smiled on the fond memory, his eyes staring into open space for a moment. “Now, before we went up the mountain, my sister Eve had spotted some hunters sneaking onto the land. They were carrying hunting rifles. And she told the rangers about them. And because of that, they were expelled, as it was a no-hunting zone. But apparently they snuck back in later with their guns once more. And that evening they were shooting at the local wolves.”

Audry let out an angry breath.

Will nodded to her, agreeing. “You guessed it. The red wolf, the one I heard who saved you, he was there. They shot at him, and he ran into our camp. They got him in the leg. His back thigh specifically. And my crazy kid sister Eve hid him in her tent.”

More breaths drew in. Silvia looked like someone had slapped her. It occurred to Will then that Silvia was once a witch in the coven that had kidnapped Eve while she had been in high school. Her husband Randon looked more amazed than anything else.

“And when the hunters walked by, we lied to them and sent them on their way.” Will shook his head severely, feeling their gaze on him.

“That’s insane.” Audry gaped at him, peeking towards his eyes as if truly reassessing his sanity. “Don’t you know a wounded wolf is dangerous?”

Will shrugged. “What can I say? Eve was, and for that matter still is, impulsive—much like our friend Rick.”

Randon closed his eyes, smiling. Silvia peeked to him.

“You’re going to hear crazy stuff about him,” Will explained, getting to his lead-in, as he was sure they had now knew Rick was in the hospital from a ‘car accident’. “But he means well.”

“When did you meet the Deacons?” Doug asked, sounding a degree overwhelmed by the story. Perhaps he too was wondering about the sanity of this doctor.

Meeting his gaze, Will said, “That same trip. They were grateful we rescued the wolf. Of course, Mr. Deacon chastised Eve for her dangerous behavior, but in the end we won him over.”

“Won him over?” Audry murmured, almost dizzy.

“My sister has a similar condition as Tom Brown,” Will explained, looking directly to Audry. “And though I’ve only just met Tom today, I recognized the traits in him at once.”

Audry nodded to herself, adding it up also. “The orange eyes.”

“Yes.” Will grinned at her. “Though, my sister has a more extreme condition than Tom. She’s allergic to the sun and cannot eat certain foods, just like Rick Deacon.”

“It’s probably why he had crushed on her,” Audry murmured in a daze.

Startled, Will looked to her. “I guess. Though, we all hit it off pretty well. Rick Deacon is a cool guy. He was fun to hike with. And he helped my dad out a great deal.”

They all looked to him, Audry questioning if Rick’s father had ‘bought’ their friendship.

But Will continued, with a generous smile, “My sister’s condition invoked a lot of prejudice from our rather insular community. They don’t tolerate ‘weird’ very well. And around end of that year we were contemplating moving from our town because the bullying and prejudice toward Eve also extended toward my father’s business.”

The room had gone utterly silent.

“He’s a dentist, and a rather good one,” Will explained. “The best in the town, actually. But some people started to boycott his business, and we were feeling the strain.”

Audry nodded.

“Mr. Deacon mostly helped us build a legal case,” Will said. Then he shrugged. “And keep our home.”

Will headed toward the door. With a nod to Maris he smiled. “Take care of yourself. Don’t do anything crazy so the wolf has to rescue you again.”

Maris nodded, laughing.

Audry rose, following after him, Maris losing grip on her hair. “Doctor…”

He was already in the hallway when he turned. “Yes?”

“Have you seen Rick?” Audry let the door close behind her.

He nodded, his blue eyes turning sad. “Briefly. He just barely woke up. He had heard about what happened with you and your niece, and he wanted me to make sure she was ok.”

Audry nodded. But she frowned. “Do you know what really happened to him?”

Hesitating, he drew a breath then said, “The story is, it was a car accident. I don’t think I’m allowed to say much more than that.”

She realized he was being honest, in a literal sense. He probably did know more, but wasn’t allowed to say. She shook her head. “Is it that big of a secret?”

Meeting her gaze, Will smiled. It was a kind, wise, and understanding smile. “You know the kind of harassment he is under.”

She closed her eyes, because she did know.

“He just wants you safe,” Will said in a lower voice. Then his eyes rested toward her shirt front. “Can I see that?”

Audry looked down. It was her silver bullet which she wore on a chain, the bullet she had pulled out of the wolf’s leg years ago. The silver was tarnished, but it was her favorite. He picked it up and read the name on it—which was Deacon. Eying her, he said, “You are a lot like my sister. A little impulsive, but in a good way.”

She stared and tugged the bullet back, tucking it into the neck of her shirt.

“You really like the wolf, don’t you?” His light blue eyes raked over her face, trying to read her.

Coloring Audry averted her gaze, then she nodded sheepishly. What was the point in lying?

“I really wish you liked the guy,” Will said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “He could use your help.”

Audry shook her head, knowing exactly whom he was talking about. “I don’t think so. I think it best that he go his way and I go mine.”

Heaving a sigh which said so much about his feelings on the subject, he turned to go back to Rick’s hospital room. “Yeah… unfortunately, he thinks the same too. He’s always afraid you’ll get hurt.”

He waved, walking off.

She stared after him, but did not follow. She did, however, mentally note which direction he went.

 

When Will returned to Rick’s room, he wordlessly patted Tom on the shoulder to allow him past so he could go inside. Tom obliged, saying nothing, yet glancing upward as if there was some conversation on the upper floor which was vastly interesting. And once Will got back into the room and close the door, he leaned on it and sighed. Andrew sat silently having never left his chair.

“Is she that bad?” Rick eyes widened on him. The smudged FOO on his forehead wrinkled. Will was half inclined to tell him about it, but decided not to. Instead, he shook his head.

“The little girl is fine.” Will chuckled, going over the visit in his head again. “The bite did not cause too much damage. There was barely any tearing. But your girl—”

“She’s not my girl,” Rick protested, knowing exactly whom he was speaking about.

Will laughed. “Your Audry is a piece of work.”

Rick closed his eyes. “She is not my—”

“Rick, as your friend and doctor, shut up.” Will then walked around to him, pulling up a stool. “Let me take a look at the damage on you.”

Huffing, Rick struggled to sit up. But he whispered once more, “She’s not my girl. She doesn’t like me. She likes the wolf.”

“I know,” Will said then forced Rick to turn, undoing the back of Rick’s hospital gown so he could get to the bandages. “But you are the wolf. And I think she subconsciously knows it.”

Rick stiffened. He seemed to sweat, actually.

“Now I understand why you want to protect her,” Will murmured as he unwrapped Rick’s bandages, which were blood stained, though not too bad. “She’s a good person, well intentioned, and beautiful.”

Rick’s heart thumped as his skin flushed in embarrassment, especially at being so laid bare and scrutinized.

“But you have got to stop making rash decisions and start trusting people again.” Will peered over each layer of bandages and skin as he unwrapped. “I heard from that little girl that her aunt shot the cougar.”

Rick nodded. “I was waiting until she could. I didn’t dare let go until she did.”

Will smirked, hearing that. “So you knew she had a tranquilizer gun?”

Nodding more, Rick chuckled, “Of course I knew. She once shot me with it.” He shook his head. “And she’s used it on a number of occasions to defend herself. She shot a witch with it as well. In New York. So of course she would bring it on a campout which might have bears.”

Will laughed, looking to Andrew who had been quietly smirking. He had a feeling that Andrew had already had his say with his best friend.

“But I did not want even a chance for that cougar to hurt that girl,” Rick murmured, flinching as another layer of gauze got pulled off. “I just didn’t get there in time. It was faster than me.”

“Tell the whole story,” Andrew said. “We need it all.”

Rick nodded with an eye-roll, huffing. He started with the mundane details, while Will lifted off the last gauze and inspected the stitching and damage all over Ricks back and sides, talking about where he and his father parked their cars and set up camp. As Rick framed their hunting plans for that full moon, Will saw that Rick’s front was mostly unscathed. He also noticed that Rick did not have any bites at all. Apparently, the cougar’s neck had not been free enough to inflict any. That was useful to know. Lacerations, but not bites. It set things up for probably deniability. When Rick got to the part of his tale where he detected cougar and was going to slip off a different way to avoid it, Will urged Rick to sit higher on his bed so he could trace exactly how the cougar had peeled off most of his back. Pausing, Rick cringed as he said, “But then I smelled Audry.”

“You smelled her?” Andrew pulled away a degree, his own mind thinking along the way of a wolf. Only he would know what that felt like, having once been transformed as a wolf for almost a week due to a witch’s curse. He still had some wolf in him for that matter.

Rick nodded to him. “Yeah.” He then peeked to Will, blushing as he said to Andrew in a slightly off